White Fragility by Robin Diangelo

Frustrating..Eye Opening..Hard Read..Academic..Enlightening..Important.
Our July book group tackled this non-fiction read, very applicable as our nation once again is embroiled in a necessary fight to understand, acknowledge and eradicate the racism that permeates our culture.

As with some of my earlier reads on racism, I wanted to deny or get defensive about some of the illustrations and dialogue; but Diangelo consistently pursues the premise that EVERY white person in America is racist.  We don't intentionally choose this, but the very founding of our country's constitution and subsequent policies and laws have made whites the superior race in America.  White men decided that blacks were less worthy so they did not get the advantages that whites automatically held: the right to vote, to purchase land, to go to the better schools and colleges, to move up in job opportunities.  In this way, our system has continually held back the advancement of black people...and we have done nothing to improve this unfair situation, except to take advantage of our privilege and to enjoy our lives.

The second theme is that whites are afraid to talk about this issue, thus making them "fragile".  When in discussions during her racial training consultant work the author most often faces anger, hostility, silence, fear, and guilt as she tries to navigate this topic with whites.  Mostly we say that we do not see color (wrong), or we have family members and friends who are of color (doesn't matter), or we argue that Affirmative Action gave too many positions to blacks (wrong)....what we don't do is simply and humbly acknowledge that we have had a part (actively or passively) in this ongoing injustice.

Our group had a great discussion on this (I love these Sizzlers!), even though most of us agreed that it was hard to plow through.  What I do know is that I want and need to continue to educate myself more on this topic, not necessarily to be an activist--but to just enlighten more friends and family about the ongoing history of our injustices;  and to fight for my two grandsons that they may fully enjoy ALL of the freedoms that I take for granted.